Diesel: The New Frontier

Creative director Glenn Martens may have risen Diesel from the ashes, but it is the way the Belgian designer wields denim to his power that makes it such an exhilarating watch.

- Manfred Lu

Glenn Martens is a natural-born provocateur. Just look at his past: the Belgian designer took on the creative director role for independent French label Y/Project in 2013, where he steered the brand to win the ANDAM Grand Prize four years later with its witty, gender-cross-pollinating designs. Since then, Y/Project’s influence over the fashion industry can be easily traced. Over several seasons — with its ballooning inclination for deconstructed denim and absurd tailoring propositions — Martens has indicated no less the pressure for certain inventiveness. It might have been the trend, but what almost flew under the radar was the way he made it a trend. It is the results of his designs which always appear as niche experiments. Each toys with the possibilities of its form, where deconstructed layers are added to or subtracted from ordinary items such as sweatshirts, T-shirts, and denim to make anew. The latter would eventually pave the way for a new era in contemporary fashion, in which Martens acts as its most effective contributor.